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In pictures: Philippines relief effort

Philippines President Gloria Arroyo (r) has opened the grounds of Manila's Malacanang Palace to provide shelter and food to flood victims. She has donated two months' salary and ordered her cabinet to do the same.

Local officials say they are overwhelmed by the demand for basic supplies of food and medicine. The government has appealed for international aid and relief agencies are mobilising.

The government estimates that about 380,000 people are living in emergency shelters, three times the number previously reported.

About 80% of the capital, Manila, was submerged, as well as nearby towns and villages. Most of the hundreds of thousands of displaced people are now relying on food aid.

Officials are also worried by the threat of disease due to the lack of clean water. They want to prevent the spread of swine flu, diarrhoea and the bacterial disease leptospirosis.

Residents are slowly being rescued from their flooded homes, but the authorities say some are still stranded more than 48 hours after the disaster.

Poor drainage systems mean some areas of Manila's suburbs remained covered in water for several days after the floods struck.

Other areas are covered in sludge, making it hard for people to rescue their belongings.

President Arroyo described the deluge as a "once-in-a-lifetime" storm, and the authorities are warning of more deaths in the days to come as they battle to reach and care for all those who have been affected.

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